SC allows live streaming of proceedings of constitutional importance

The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the live streaming of its proceedings in the cases that hold constitutional importance.

Rendering the judgement, the bench, comprising of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice DY Chandrachud, said, "It (live streaming) will start from the Supreme Court. Rules have to be followed for this. Live streaming of court proceedings will bring accountability into the judicial system."

The order came on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by senior advocate Indira Jaising in her personal capacity in January this year.

Seeking live streaming and webcast, Jaising, in her petition, had urged the apex court to allow "live streaming of proceedings in cases that are of constitutional and national importance having an impact on the public at large or a large number of people."

Justice D Y Chandrachud observed that it will give more clarity to the court proceedings, and at the same time the cases would be more transparent.

In her petition, Jaising had argued that, live telecasting of Supreme Court proceedings will increase access to courts and "negate the chances of any misreporting, errors or second-hand information."

She also stated that the "right to seek, receive information including live streaming of Supreme Court proceedings" is a Fundamental Right guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.